Amnesty report says Kenya tops Africa in extrajudicial killings

Report by Amnesty International ranks Kenya on top of African countries, in cases of police shootings and killing of civilians. Amnesty International report 2016-2017, a majority of the cases were witnessed in the coastal region.

Besides deaths and imprisonment, human rights defenders and journalists also faced physical assaults, intimidation and harassment. Bloggers, members of civil society, political opposition and anti-corruption groups were also targeted.

“According to Haki Africa, a human rights group, there were 78 extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances in Mombasa County in the first eight months of 2016.” Other abuses were committed by unaccountable police officers and security agencies, says the report.

The report indicates that by October 2016, a total of 122 extrajudicial killings had been reported in Kenya, out of 177 cases in Africa. Though, Kenya is the 1st in 15 African nations, in recorded cases of police harassment and deaths. Others countries are Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Mauritania, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo and Zambia. All are also ranked high on violation of freedom of expression, as well as the arrest and detention of members of opposition parties and groups.